When September Ends
by Ivy-7208
Summary: Taz reflects on the worst month of the year. Songfic to Wake me up when September ends by Green Day


_**A/N:** I have recently discovered two things. 1) I can relate most songs to Starship. 2) My love for writing fanfics. Put 'em together and what have you got?_

_Song for this fic: .com/watch?v=jVO8sUrs-Pw_

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><p>Wake me up when September ends - Green Day<p>

_Summer has come and passed,  
>the innocent can never last,<br>wake me up when September ends._

Taz shepherded the small knot of refugees on autopilot. Men. Women. Children, lots of children. Many parentless, clutching the hands of siblings, teenagers carrying babies. The haunted, hopeless look in their eyes was one she knew well. It was the one she buried under layers of anger and toughness. This had been the worst month of Tazs life. So many villages had been targeted. Each one reminding her why else she hated September.

_Like my father's come to pass,  
>seven years has gone so fast,<br>wake me up when September ends._

Taz did another quick sweep of the landscape. No robots. She stooped to pick up a piece of paper that had been dropped by one of the refugees. A photo. A girl sat high on the shoulders of a man who could only be her father. Taz recalled a similar incident, a week before her thirteenth birthday. Seven years ago. She glanced back at the image in her hand. Father and daughter. Laughing at some long forgotten joke. The image was ripped from her hands and she looked up. The girl stared hard at her before rejoining the throng of villagers. She walked alone.

_Here comes the rain again,  
>falling from the stars.<br>Drenched in my pain again,  
>becoming who we are.<br>_  
>Taz glanced up at the ominous grey clouds that blotted out the sun. There was an echoing roll of thunder that caused some of the villagers to jump and flinch in alarm. Then the rain started. Great sizzling bullets of water that quickly evolved into sheets. Taz kept walking. The little girl in front hunched over in an attempt to keep her photo from the worst of the water. Looks like Taz is not the only one who will hate this day for the rest of her life.<p>

_As my memory rests,  
>but never forgets what I lost,<br>wake me up when September ends_.

Usually Up would make sure she was off duty for this day but the League was only just clinging to existence thanks to the Robot Wars and they needed all hands on deck. The past years she has dealt with it by drinking herself silly in an attempt to fend off the memories, even if she can never quite manage to forget her birthday.

_Summer has come and passed,  
>the innocent can never last,<br>wake me up when September ends.  
><em>  
>The rain was unpleasant to the extreme but it served one purpose. Taz was grateful for the camouflage as she felt a tear escape. Watching the back of the little girl who reminded her of herself. The kid who lost everything one September.<p>

_Ring out the bells again,  
>like we did when spring began,<br>wake me up when September ends.  
><em>  
>With no alcohol to numb her and no robots in sight to blow up by way of distraction, memory's came flooding at Taz from all directions. The year before the robot attack on her home had been a happy one. Her sister was married that spring; they had had a big party. Taz remembered laughing as the church bells sang out across the Mexican sky.<p>

_Here comes the rain again,  
>falling from the stars.<br>Drenched in my pain again,  
>becoming who we are.<em>

The rain was a problem. Up was yelling instructions over the howling wind as they diverted into a barn. Abandoned now as its owner fled from the robots. Soon refugees and rangers stood and sat huddled amongst the straw. Taz was unsurprised to see them in what was left of family groups.

_As my memory rests,  
>but never forgets what I lost,<br>wake me up when September ends._

As night fell Taz glanced up from her lookout post by the door to see Ups eyes on her. Clearly he was concerned about her. Without a word he lifted the zapper from her hands and pushed her towards the other sleeping rangers. his meaning was a clear 'get some sleep, I'll keep watch'. She didn't need telling twice. Sleep would be a welcome escape from this hellish reality.

_Summer has come and passed,  
>the innocent can never last,<br>wake me up when September ends._

The ground was hard but Taz was beyond caring. Her last thought was more of a question. Where did the time go? How can I be twenty years old?  
>Then sleep claimed her with soft arms and whispered promises it could never keep. Promises of a better, brighter, braver tomorrow.<p>

_Like my father's come to pass,  
>twenty years has gone so fast,<br>wake me up when September ends._


End file.
